World of the dead
by shadow hunter483
Summary: A first person account of the zombie invasion that goes all the way to the development of the new fortified human cities. Chapter 4 is now up. Read and enjoy and please review.
1. Chapter 1

World of the dead

Ch.1

I guess I should write this down before I forget. God it's been what nearly twenty years since that night. I don't know why, but it's like as much as I want to forget it, it won't go away. I was seventeen then. Young kid in high school, a geek in a debate club with a shot at getting a girlfriend. Now I'm married with three kids and a professional zombie hunter. It seems like everything has changed. My home. My life. My name. I used to be Daniel Webster. Now I'm shadow. I'm still confused on how I got that name. It's been nearly twenty years since that night when everything changed and I can still remember it every moment, every detail, and every scream.

So from the beginning. It was another night in the debate club. Again the teachers were drilling the offensive side on the topic, we were preparing for a debate on the disarmament of nuclear weapons, yea boring topic. So I'm sitting there staring at my note cards. Reading and rereading the same sentence about 50 times over suddenly realizing that I have no idea what it is I'm reading, or that I frankly don't care, or a combination of both. I frankly don't care for the topic and I'm wondering why I even decided to join this stupid club. Bored and tired, I do the only thing that seems to relax me. I walk outside for some fresh air and there she was. Her name was Francesca.

She was the girl I had a huge crush on for the better part of the year. I had been admireing her from a far, so taking wasn't really somthing I had in mind. But I did it anyways. So I walked up and we started talking. It went well. Good thing was, she was as much of a nerd as I was and she was good looking. Pretty soon I had a date set up dinner and a movie on Friday night. Hell what could be better? Man I was at the pinnacle of my life. Good grades, a good life, a date on Friday, and a chance to go to college. I mean life is good. What could possibly go wrong? Well a lot of things in fact. Some I never really expected.

It was a perfect moment. I was alone with the girl I was in love with when a fire truck slammed into the side of the building. It kind of ruined the romantic moment, and was pretty stupid if you think about it, but hey what better way to impress a girl than by saving a person. I always thought that first aid training would come in handy. I now realize that I should have left that guy to die.

So one guy falls out of the truck. He's dressed like a fireman, but he's covered in blood, oh and his left hand well it wasn't there. What do I do? I could have done the normal thing, which was the smart thing, and called for help. That might have alerted me to the fact that there was a larger problem then just a crashed fire truck and I guy with no hand. But no I decided to play hero and I picked him up and dragged him into the room. Some other people had come out and started to watch. Fran dragged in a first aid kit and I prepped a field dressing and slapped on a tourniquet. I seemed pretty cool doing a bunch of first aid and saving a person, but for some reason he looked sick. He was becoming gray and looked as if he had a bad infection. I told someone to call for help and just as I was doing so, he took a deep breath and died, at that time that didn't really look too good. They guy I was trying to save just died. I looked over the body and saw that he had some other bites on his neck and arm. I covered him with my jacket and told someone to call the cops. Again it might have been better if I let him die outside because just as I asked someone to call 911, he got up. I turned just as he launched himself at me. Man he stunk. But I wasn't concentrating on his smell. I was more concerned about his teeth and about how he was trying to bite me.

So I flung my hand out and struggled to find something to fight back with. I grabbed a pencil. Yes a pencil, (what do you expect I'm in a school) and I shoved it through the side of his head the only thing I could think of. This is where self-defense training came in handy. Blood sprayed everywhere and I pushed him off of me. In hindsight I guess it wasn't so bad, but I still say I should have let him die outside. Also I should point out that no one decided to help me. (Some friends huh) Anyways we went back out to the truck since our cells weren't working and the landlines were also down. I wanted to take a look at the truck since it might have a radio or a working phone we could use. Well just as we got there, we heard a scream and a janitor came running out. Behind him were about two or three of these things.

They took him down and began to eat him. I looked around and found a fire ax that had fallen out of the truck. I picked it up and swung at the things. They ignored me until I hit one. Then they charged me. I know what you're thinking not smart for me to go at a zombie with an ax. I am thankful for the fact that my buddy Chris had the sense to pick up a crowbar and kill one. (Now they decide to help me) I finished off the last one. Now you think we would have the sense to run and go for help. But no we go back to the classroom. Just as we got there, we heard some groaning. About twenty of these things charged us. We ran inside. Again should have gone for help. They surrounded the building and started to pound on the doors and windows. We barricaded desks and other things. We were in a classroom that doubled as a storage room for sporting equipment and was connected to the cafeteria. So there we were trapped in a room with about 100 or so zombies attempting to get in. Seems hopeless right, well life was about to take some twists and turns.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

About 24 hours later, we were still sitting in that classroom. More of these things had congregated around the room. The TV was on and we were watching reports about these things. It seems as if these things were the undead and they were attacking the living. (We had kind of figured it out already, yet it took the state department awhile to do that) We managed to learn a few things about them. They were pretty stupid for the most part, but some had learned to pickup and use everyday objects as weapons. As it turns out the best way to kill them, according to the state department, is to hit them in the head. (Again we realized it first, yet the state department to slow to figure out till later.)

We were all worried about the fact that we were still stuck in the room with the zombies at every entrance. One of us, I think his name was David, was running around the room yelling about how we were all going to die. It got annoying after a while. I think it was someone, I think his name was Chad, suggested that we use the roofs to get out. He said it as a joke, but we actually thought about it when we saw that there was a trap door on the roof. Its funny we had been using that room for a year for the debate club and we had been trapped in there for a day and none of us noticed the trap door in the roof.

So here was our plan. In groups we would run to go get into our respective cars. My van was parked the farthest. A group of four others plus myself would make a run for my van and a couple of other cars. Then we would drive to our homes pick up supplies and meet at Ben's house. Ben had a large house and his family owned a lot of weapons. (His dad was a survivalist still believing in nuclear war brought on by some random country in the Middle East, yea crazy I know) With luck we could barricade ourselves in and wait for help. Fran was with me. We went on top of the roof carrying a variety of weapons made from sporting equipment. We were carrying baseball bats, hockey sticks, golf clubs with ice skates taped to them. I had my fire ax. Our plan was to use a ladder to bridge the distance between classrooms and walk over the zombies. Then get to our cars.

We would split up in order to divide the zombies and make it easier to kill them. We had to use the ladder as the bridge between the rooftops. As we were going one guy, Eric, panicked and tried to jump the gap between classrooms. When he did this he hit one of the guys trying to cross the ladder, Bobby. They fell off the building and they didn't make it. I mean what were we going to do. Dive in and get their corpses and wait for them to get back up and try to kill us. Other than that getting to my car was the easy part. Actually getting in was hard. The minuet we got on the ground, they swarmed us. We ran as fast as we could I unlocked my car remotely and got the door open automatically. We jumped in through the sliding door and we closed it manually, or at least Fran and I did, the other guy, Terrance, he didn't run fast enough. They were swarming all over the van, pounding on the glass and trying to bite the door open. I started he up and threw the car in reverse. I felt the car running over them and hearing the squishing sound of their heads popping and the blood shooting out and drenching the car. I went into drive and floored it. The traffic lights were down, so I had to make sure I wasn't going to get hit. I managed to lose the zombies and I soon got to Fran's house. We picked up her sister and then we drove to my place. They we headed to mine.

Now I didn't have a lot of time, so here was my plan. Now I'm a guy who prides himself in his brilliant plans. In hindsight, this was the dumbest thing I ever did. I would floor it and avoid every store and house until I reached mine. I would get inside, get my little brother and sister, grab some supplies, and get out, simple concept, very hard execution, and really I know what your thinking, I should have gone to a gun store first, back then, I was a pacifist. Like I said stupid plan. I later learned that guns were my friends.

The first part went smoothly. My parents were out on a cruise, so they were safe. But just as we were leaving, the zombies came for us. Hundreds rushed my van. Fran and I hacked our way through the hoard. Trying to protect our siblings. Getting to my car was one of the hardest things I had ever done. We would have died had it not have been for a group of Marines who were falling back. Using the 50.cals on their Humvees, they drove the hoard back.

This was both a blessing and a curse. The Marines told us that their unit had been separated and that they were ordered to fall back to the local Air Force base. The problem was that the road was so thick with zombies that it was impossible to cross even with heavy weapons. They followed us to Ben's house. There were about 30 of us now barricaded in. There we distributed weapons to those who could use them. Because I had my ax, I just wanted something small. They handed me a 9mm Glock. I was hoping for a 45. at the very least, but hey at least I got something. At least I got a gun. We gave a guy named Jeff a sharpened hockey stick. The joke was that we hated him, he was a nice guy, but annoying as hell. I think he died, or wait maybe we killed him since he was so annoying. No I think he got bit, died, and then we killed him. Or maybe he's still alive. I don't know I stopped caring about him and I've lost touch with a lot of other people. Two more weeks passed and we're still sitting in Ben's house attempting to defend ourselves from the zombies.

The good news, our perimeter is set and 100 effective. We jerry rigged some electric fences, traps, and alarms. The bad news we were running out of supplies and there was a chance that the power was going to be cut off. But other than that, I thought my problems were over. In fact I was about to have a lot of problems in more ways than one.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The food was nearly gone when we decided to go for supplies. We loaded up as many vehicles as we could with fuel and weapons. We would travel in four man teams. Each team would be in one vehicle and with a radio and enough ammunition to get them into town and back out. I was on a team with Ben his, buddy, Robbie, the star baseball player and one of the schools greatest skeet shooters, and my buddy Chris, the future fireman. We were going to pile into my van and head over to the local drug store to pickup some first aid gear, medicine, and anything else that we deemed necessary. Then scour the city for any more supplies. We were under strict orders not to take any survivors. We were running out of supplies as it was. It was a tough decision, but it had to be done. So we loaded up and headed out.

Now before I continue, I feel as if you don't know that much about me. I mean here I am telling you my life story and you really know nothing about my background. I was a nerd. I'll let you come up with your own description as you probably have already. School was a daily battle for me as again I was a nerd. The only thing that kept me alive was the school's variety of electives. One that I took was unarmed and armed self-defense. That usually kept bullies away, since the threat of being sent to the hospital with several broken bones was good enough to deter them from bothering me. The other one I took was fireman's training. This is where I learned first aid and how to use that fire ax. I never thought I would be breaking open zombie skulls with it instead of doors. I was also on the school air rifle team. I wasn't bad, but not one of the greatest. In fact I still wonder why I didn't bring my air rifle along when I ran from my house. I mean its not like it would have done me any good, since I had a few shots before I had to pump it full of air and before I finished that, I would be dead. Well life as a nerd was bad, but it was at least better than life with a hoard of zombies.

So where was I before I went into a flashback. Oh yea after we got off the back roads that lead to Ben's house and onto the local roads, we saw the zombies. There weren't many, but as soon as we came near them, they rushed the van. I ran a good deal over. Now we had modified a lot of the cars with basic armor. My van had some aluminum siding and barbed wire on the outside and pitchforks and other sharp objects made a ram in the front. This made zombie killing a breeze. We refrained from shooting since we knew that ammunition was also a commodity that we didn't have a lot of.

We lost the Zombies a mile from the edge of town. A large number seemed to have moved it, but a good number remained. There were only a few left as we entered the store. I had my Glock, but I had decided on my ax instead. I had made a few improvements on it. Using duct tape, leather straps, and a few other odds and ends, I had added a fire poker to the front end as a stabbing weapon and a machete to the bottom as a close range slash and as a rear facing stabbing weapon. There was also a strap that served as an anchor for my hands and as a shoulder harness.

The store was devoid of life. So naturally we had a hell of a time hacking and shooting our way through the twenty or so zombies that had congregated there. We knew that there was only a matter of time before the others smelled us and came for us so we grabbed as much stuff as we could.

This seemed to go smoothly. After we finished up there, we were supposed to scour the city for any other useful tools. Well that didn't go as planned.

As we left the drug store we found that we weren't alone. Waiting out side were four heavily armed and crazy looking teenagers who were trashing my van.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I think I yelled something about having four more payments on my van or something. Ok that wasn't the smartest thing to say, but at the time I wasn't thinking. I mean this was my car. I had been paying both the bills and the insurance for nearly a year. This took a huge chunk out of my paycheck each week and I was really pissed that someone had the sense to go hitting it with a baseball bat. I mean would you be pissed if someone went at your car or prized possession with a baseball bat. I mean come on. The world is being over run by the undead and here are some kids smashing car windows for fun. I mean how wrong is that.

Well anyways they turned around and one of them, apparently their leader, started to wave around a MAC-10 and started to yell about wanting my keys. Apparently they wanted my van, our guns and all of our supplies and my ax. Well that just wasn't a deal that was fine with us. Chris and Ben had joined us outside, but Robbie was gone. Chris had his father's old lever action Winchester and Ben had his shotgun. Robbie had a 1903 Springfield, but he was gone at the moment. So it was 3 vs. 5.

Well the threats went back and forth for a while, and soon it got boring. I was about to let them have it with my ax, when I saw that Robbie had gotten on the roof and had a perfect angle to take out two of lowlifes who were trying to steal my van. I didn't want to reach for my Glock since they didn't know about it. I had it tucked away in the back of my jeans waistband. So they were starting to get as agitated as we were, and that's when Robbie started shooting. He nailed on of them fast and took out the second moments later. I tackled the leader and Chris and Ben started shooting.

I knocked the MAC-10 out of his hand and we started to wrestle for my ax. The Marines had been teaching us some hand to hand combat so that came in handy. I managed to throw this guy off me, but the he got his SMG back. I reached back and grabbed my Glock. Again the Marines had been giving us a good deal of firearms training. Before he could fire, I pulled the trigger and shot him square in the chest. He fell back like it was in slow motion and I knelt there stunned. Shooting a zombie was one thing, but killing a human being was another thing all together. The last two guys ran off.

The guys snapped me out of the trance I was in. I just couldn't stop staring at the body. It wasn't until Chris covered the body with a sheet that he got from the drug store that I finally stopped staring. I just couldn't forget his face. That mixed look of surprise and horror etched in his face. His last cry of "why" that still echoes in my head.

We loaded up the supplies in silence. Robbie and I, well we were both pretty shaken up by this whole experience. I mean we had both just killed people. It's not something you can forget easily. I want to say that this still haunts me and in a way it does, but this was just one of many things that still haunt my nightmares and after a while, it stops bothering you. I sometimes get afraid when that happens.


End file.
